Front matter (continued 6)

17. Strabo, XI, 14, § 9. On the studs of Cappadocia, cf. Grégoire, Saints jumeaux et dieux cavaliers, 1905, pp. 56 ff.

18. Cf. C. R. Acad. des Inscr., 1905, pp. 99 ff. (note on the bilingual inscription of Aghatcha-Kalé); cf. Daremberg-Saglio-Pottier, Dict. Antiqu., s. v. "Satrapa."

19. Mon. myst. Mithra, I, p. 10, n. 1. The argument undoubtedly dates back to Carneades, see Boll, Studien über Claudius Ptolemäus, 1894, pp. 181 ff.

20. Louis H. Gray (Archiv für Religionswiss., VII, 1904, p. 345) has shown how these six Amshaspands passed from being divinities of the material world to the rank of moral abstractions. From an important text of Plutarch it appears that they already had this quality in Cappadocia; cf. Mon. myst. Mithra, II, p. 33, and Philo, Quod omn. prob. lib., 11 (II, 456 M).—On Persian gods worshiped in Cappadocia, see Mon. myst. Mithra, I, p. 132.

21. See supra, n. 16 and 18.—According to Grégoire, the bilingual inscription of Farasha dates back to the first century, before or after Christ (loc. cit., p. 445).

22. Mon. myst. Mithra, I, p. 9, n. 5.

23. Comparison of the type of Jupiter Dolichenus with the bas-reliefs of Boghaz-Keui led Kan (De Iovis Dolicheni cultu, Groningen, 1901, pp. 3 ff.) to see an Anatolian god in him. The comparison of the formula ubi ferrum nascitur with the expression ὅπου ὁ σίδηρος τίκτεται, used in connection with the Chalybians, leads to the same conclusion, see Revue de philologie, XXVI, 1902, p. 281.—Still, the representations of Jupiter Dolichnus also possess a remarkable resemblance to those of the Babylonian god Ramman; cf. Jeremias in Roscher, Lexikon der Myth., s. v. "Ramman," IV, col. 50 ff.

24. Rev. archéol. 1905, I, p. 189. Cf. supra, p. 127, n. 68.

25. Herod., I, 131.—On the assimilation of Baalsamin to Ahura-Mazda, cf. supra, p. 127, and infra, n. 29. At Rome, Jupiter Dolichenus was conservator totius poli et numen praestantissimum (CIL, VI, 406 = 30758).

26. Inscription of King Antiochus of Commagene (Michel, Recueil, No. 735), l. 43:

Πρὸς οὐρανίους Διὸς Ὠρομάσδου θρόνους θεοφιλῆ ψυχὴν προπέμψαν; cf. l. 33: Οὐρανίων ἄγχιστα θρόνων.

27. Mon. myst. Mithra, I, p. 87.

28. Mon. myst. Mithra, I, p. 333.—An inscription discovered in a mithreum at Dorstadt (Sacidava in Dacia, CIL, III, 7728, cf. 7729), furnishes, if I rightly understand, another proof of the relation existing between the Semitic cults and that of the Persian gods. It speaks of a "de[orum?] sacerdos creatus a Pal[myr]enis, do[mo] Macedonia, et adven[tor] huius templi." This rather obscure text becomes clear when compared with Apul., Metam., XI, 26. After the hero had been initiated into the mysteries of Isis in Greece, he was received at Rome in the great temple of the Campus Martius, "fani quidem advena, religionis autem indigena." It appears also that this Macedonian, who was made a priest of their national gods (Bel, Malakbel, etc.) by a colony of Palmyrenians, was received in Dacia by the mystics of Mithra as a member of their religion.

29. At Venasa in Cappadocia, for instance, the people, even during the Christian period, celebrated a panegyric on a mountain, where the celestial Zeus, representing Baalsamin and Ahura-Mazda, was formerly worshiped (Ramsay, Church in the Roman Empire, 1894, pp. 142, 457). The identification of Bel with Ahura-Mazda in Cappadocia results from the Aramaic inscription of Jarpuz (Clermont-Ganneau, Recueil, III, p. 59; Lidzbarski, Ephemeris für semit. Epigraphik, I, pp. 59 ff.). The Zeus Stratios worshiped upon a high summit near Amasia was in reality Ahura-Mazda, who in turn probably supplanted some local god (Studia Pontica, pp. 173 ff.).—Similarly the equation Anahita = Ishtar = Ma or Cybele for the great female divinity is accepted everywhere (Mon. myst. Mithra, I, p. 333), and Ma takes the epithet ἀνίκητος like Mithra (Athen. Mitt., XVIII, 1893, p. 415, and XXIX, 1904, p. 169). A temple of this goddess was called ἱερὸν Ἀστάρτης in a decree of Anisa (Michel, Recueil, No. 536, l. 32).

30. The Mithra "mysteries" are not of Hellenic origin (Mon. myst. Mithra, I, p. 239), but their resemblance to those of Greece, which Gruppe insists upon (Griech. Mythologie, pp. 1596 ff.) was such that the two were bound to become confused in the Alexandrian period.

31. Harnack (Ausbreitung des Christentums, II, p. 271) sees in this exclusion of the Hellenic world a prime cause of the weakness of the Mithra worship in its struggle against Christianity. The mysteries of Mithra met the Greek culture with the culture of Persia, superior in some respects. But if it was capable of attracting the Roman mind by its moral qualities, it was too Asiatic, on the whole, to be accepted without repugnance by the Occidentals. The same was true of Manicheism.

32. CIL, III, 4413; cf. Mon. myst. Mithra, I, p. 281.

33. Cf. the bibliography at the head of the notes for this chapter.

34. As Plato grew older he believed that he could not explain the evils of this world without admitting the existence of an "evil soul of the world" (Zeller, Philos. der Griechen, II, p. 973, p. 981, n. 1). But this late conception, opposed as it is to his entire system, is probably due to the influence of Oriental dualism. It is found in the Epinomis (Zeller, ibid., p. 1042, n. 4), where the influence of "Chaldean" theories is undeniable; cf. Bidez, Revue de Philologie, XXIX, 1905, p. 319.

35. Plutarch, De Iside, 46 ff.; cf. Zeller, Philos. der Griechen, V, p. 188; Eisele, Zur Demonologie des Plutarch (Archiv für Gesch. der Philos., XVII), 1903, p. 283 f.—Cf. infra, n. 40.

36. Arnobius, who was indebted to Cornelius Labeo for some exact information on the doctrines of the magi, says (IV, 12, p. 150, 12, Reifferscheid): "Magi suis in accitionibus memorant antitheos saepius obrepere pro accitis, esse autem hos quosdam materiis ex crassioribus spiritus qui deos se fingant, nesciosque mendaciis et simulationibus ludant." Lactantius, the pupil of Arnobius, used the same word in speaking of Satan that a Mazdean would have used in referring to Ahriman (Inst. divin., II, 9, 13, p. 144, 13, Brandt): "Nox quam pravo illi antitheo dicimus attributam"; he is the aemulus Dei.—Heliodorus who has made use in his Aethiopica of data taken from the Mazdean beliefs (see Monuments relatifs aux mystères de Mithra, volume I, p. 336, n. 2) uses the Greek word in the same sense, (IV, 7, p. 105, 27, Bekker ed.): Ἀντίθεός τις ἔοικεν ἐμποδίζειν τὴν πρᾶξιν.—The Ps.-Iamblichus, De myster., III, 31, § 15, likewise speaks of δαίμονες πονηροὺς οὓς δὴ καὶ καλοῦσιν ἀντιθέους. Finally the magical papyri also knew of the existence of these deceiving spirits (Wessely, Denksch. Akad. Wien, XLII, p. 42, v. 702: Πέμψον μοι τὸν ἀληθινὸν Ἀσκληπιὸν δίχα τινὸς ἀντιθέου πλανοδαίμονος).

37. In a passage to which we shall return in note 39, Porphyry (De Abstin., II, 42), speaks of the demons in almost the same terms as Arnobius: Τὸ γὰρ ψεῦδος τούτοις οἱκεῖον· Βούλονται γὰρ εἶναι θεοὶ καὶ ἡ προεστῶσα αὐτῶν δύναμις δοκεῖν θεὸς εἶναι ὁ μέγιστος (cf. c. 41: Τούτους καὶ τὸν προεστῶτα αὐτῶν); likewise Ps.-Iamblichus, De myst., III, 30, 6: Τὸν μέγαν ἡγεμόνα τῶν δαιμόνων.—In the De philos. ex orac. haur. (pp. 147 ff. Wolff), an early work in which he followed other sources than those in De Abstinentia, Porphyry made Serapis (= Pluto) the chief of the malevolent demons. There was bound to be a connection between the Egyptian god of the underworld and the Ahriman of the Persians at an early date.—A veiled allusion to this chief of demons may be contained in Lucan, VI, 742 ff., and Plutarch who, in De Iside, 46, called Ahriman Hades (supra, p. 190; cf. Mon. myst. Mithra, II, p. 131, No. 3), says elsewhere (De latenter viv., 6, p. 1130): Τὸν δὲ τῆς ἐναντίας κύριον μοίρας, εἴτε θεὸς εἴτε δαίμων ἐστίν, Ἄιδην ὀνομάζουσιν. Cf. Decharme, Traditions religieuses chez les Grecs, 1904, p. 431, n. 1.

38. The dedication Diis angelis recently found at Viminacium (Jahresh. Instituts in Wien, 1905, Beiblatt, p. 6), in a country where the Mithra worship had spread considerably seems to me to refer to this. See Minuc. Felix, Octav., 26: "Magorum et eloquio et negotio primus Hostanes angelos, id est ministros et nuntios Dei, eius venerationi novit assistere." St. Cypr., "Quod idola dii n. s.," c. 6 (p. 24, 2, Hartel): "Ostanes et formam Dei veri negat conspici posse et angelos veros sedi eius dicit adsistere." Cf. Tertullian, Apol., XXIII: "Magi habentes invitatorum angelorum et daemonum adsistentem sibi potestatem;" Arnobius, II, 35 (p. 76, 15, Reifferscheid); Aug., Civ. Dei, X, 9, and the texts collected by Wolff, Porphyrii de philos. ex orac. haurienda, 1856, pp. 223 ff.; Kroll, De orac. Chaldaïcis, 1894, pp. 53; Roscher, Die Hebdomadenlehre der griech. Philosophen, Leipsic, 1906, p. 145; Abt, Apuleius und die Zauberei, Giessen, 1909, p. 256.

39. Porphyry, De Abstin., II, 37-43, expounds a theory about the demons, which, he says, he took from "certain Platonists" (Πλατωνικοί τινες, Numenius and Cronius?). That these authors, whoever they were, helped themselves freely to the doctrines of the magi, seems to appear immediately from the whole of Porphyry's exposition (one could almost give an endless commentary on it with the help of the Mazdean books) and in particular from the mention that is made of a power commanding the spirits of evil (see supra, n. 37). This conclusion is confirmed by a comparison with the passage of Arnobius cited above (n. 36), who attributes similar theories to the "magi," and with a chapter of the Ps.-Iamblichus (De mysteriis, III, 31) which develops analogous beliefs as being those of "Chaldean prophets."—Porphyry also cites a "Chaldean" theologian in connection with the influence of the demons, De regressu animae (Aug., Civ. Dei, X, 9).

I conjecture that the source of all this demonology is the book attributed to Hostanes which we find mentioned in the second century of our era by Minucius Felix, St. Cyprian (supra, n. 38), etc.; cf. Wolff, op. cit., p. 138; Mon. myst. Mithra, I, p. 33. As a matter of fact it would be false logic to try to explain the evolution of demonology, which is above everything else religious, by the development of the philosophic theories of the Greeks (see for instance the communications of Messrs. Stock and Glover: Transactions of the Congress of History of Rel., Oxford, 1908, II, pp. 164 ff.). The influence of the popular Hellenic or foreign ideas has always been preponderant here; and the Epinomis, which contains one of the oldest accounts of the theory of demons, as proved supra, n. 34, was influenced by the Semitic notions about genii, the ancestors of the djinns and the wélys of Islam.

If, as we believe, the text of Porphyry really sets forth the theology of the magi, slightly modified by Platonic ideas based on popular beliefs of the Greeks and perhaps of the barbarians, we shall be able to draw interesting conclusions in regard to the mysteries of Mithra. For instance, one of the principles developed is that the gods must not be honored by the sacrifice of animated beings (ἔμψυχα), and that immolation of victims should be reserved for the demons. The same idea is found in Cornelius Labeo, (Aug., Civ. Dei, VIII, 13; see Arnobius, VII, 24), and possibly it was the practice of the Mithra cult. Porphyry (II, 36) speaks in this connection of rites and mysteries, but without divulging them, and it is known that in the course of its history Mazdaism passed from the bloody to the bloodless sacrifice (Mon. myst. Mithra, I, p. 6).

40. Cf. Plutarch, De defectu orac., 10, p. 415 A:

Ἐμοὶ δὲ δοκοῦσι πλείονας λῦσαι ἀπορίας οἱ τὸ τῶν δαιμόνων γένος ἐν μέσῳ θέντες θεῶν καὶ ἀνθρώπων καὶ τρόπον τινὰ τὴν κοινωνίαν ἡμῶν συνάγον εἰς ταὐτὸ καὶ σύναπτον ἐξεύροντες· εἴτε μάγων τῶν περὶ Ζωροάστρην ὁ λόγος οὖτος ἐστι, εἴτε Θρᾴκιος....

41. Cf. Minucius Felix, 26, § 11: "Hostanes daemonas prodidit terrenos vagos humanitatis inimicos." The pagan idea, that the air was peopled with evil spirits against whom man had to struggle perpetually, persisted among the Christians; cf. Ephes., ii. 2, vi. 12, see also Prudentius, Hamartigenia, 514 ff.

42. Cf. Minucius Felix, loc. cit.: "Magi non solum sciunt daemonas, sed quidquid miraculi ludunt, per daemonas faciunt," etc. Cf. Aug., Civ. Dei, X, 9 and infra, ch. VII, n. 76.

43. Mon. myst. Mithra, I, pp. 139 ff.

44. Theod. Mopsuest. ap. Photius, Bibl. 81. Cf. Mon. myst. Mithra, I, p. 8.

45. Cf. Bousset, Die Religion des Judentums im neutest. Zeitalter, 1903, pp. 483 ff.

46. Julian, Caesares, p. 336 C. The term ἐντολαί is the one also used in the Greek Church for the commandments of the Lord.

47. Cf. supra, p. 36.

48. The remark is from Darmesteter, Zend-Avesta, II, p. 441.

49. Cf. Reinach, op. cit., [260], pp. 230 ff.

50. Farnell, Evolution of Religion, p. 127.

51. Mithra is sanctus (Mon. myst. Mithra, II, p. 533), like the Syrian gods; cf. supra, ch. V, n. 47.

52. Mon. myst. Mithra, I, pp. 309 ff. The eschatology of orthodox Mazdaism has been expounded recently by Söderblom, La vie future d'après le mazdéisme, Paris, 1901.

53. Cf. supra, ch. IV, p. 100, ch. V, p. 126.

54. We have explained this theory above, p. 125. It was foreign to the religion of Zoroaster and was introduced into the mysteries of Mithra with the Chaldean astrology. Moreover, ancient mythological ideas were always mixed with this learned theology. For instance, it was an old Oriental belief that souls, being regarded as material, wore clothing (Mon. myst. Mithra, I, p. 15, n. 5; Bousset, Archiv für Religionswiss., IV, 1901, p. 233, n. 2; Rev. hist. des relig., 1899, p. 243, and especially Böklen, Die Verwandtschaft der jüdisch-christlichen und der parsischen Eschatologie, Göttingen, 1902, pp. 61 ff.) Thence arose the notion prevalent to the end of paganism, that the soul in passing through the planetary spheres, took on the qualities of the stars "like successive tunics." Porphyry, De abstin., I, 31: Ἀποδυτέον ἄρα τοὺς πολλοὺς ἡμῖν χιτῶνας κ. τ. λ.; Macrobius, Somnium Sc., I, 11, § 12: "In singulis sphaeris aetherea obvolutione vestitur"; I, 12, § 13: "Luminosi corporis amicitur accessu"; Proclus, In Tim., I, 113, 8, Diehl ed.: Περιβάλλεσθαι χιτῶνας, Procl., Opera, Cousin ed., p. 222: "Exuendum autem nobis et tunicas quas descendentes induti sumus"; Kroll, De orac. Chaldaïcis, p. 51, n. 2: Ψυχὴ ἑσσαμένη νοῦν; Julian, Or., II, p. 123, 22, (Hertlein). Cf. Wendland, Die hellenistisch-römische Kultur, p. 168 n. 1. Compare what Hippolytus, Philos., V, I, says of Isis (Ishtar?) in connection with the Naasenians. She is ἑπτάστολος, because nature also is covered with seven ethereal garments, the seven heavens of the planets; see Ps.-Apul., Asclepius, 34 (p. 75, 2 Thomas): "Mundum sensibilem et, quae in eo sunt, omnia a superiore illo mundo quasi ex vestimento esse contecta." I have insisted upon the persistence of this idea, because it may help us to grasp the significance attributed to a detail of the Mithra ritual in connection with which Porphyry relates nothing but contradictory interpretations. The persons initiated into the seven degrees were obliged to put on different costumes. The seven degrees of initiation successively conferred upon the mystic were symbols of the seven planetary spheres, through which the soul ascended after death (Mon. myst. Mithra, I, p. 316), the garments assumed by the initiates were probably considered as emblems of those "tunics" which the soul put on when descending into the lower realms and discarded on returning to heaven.

55. Renan, Marc-Aurèle, p. 579.

56. Anatole France, Le mannequin d'osier, p. 318. Cf. Reinach, op. cit. [p. 260], p. 232.

VII. ASTROLOGY AND MAGIC.

Bibliography: Bouché-Leclercq's book L'astrologie grecque (Paris, 1899) makes it unnecessary to refer to the earlier works of Saumaise (De annis climactericis, 1648), of Seiffarth (Beiträge sur Lit. des alten Aegypten, II, 1883), etc. Most of the facts cited by us are taken from that monumental treatise, unless otherwise stated.—A large number of new texts has been published in the Catalogus codicum astrologorum Graecorum (9 vols. ready, Brussels, 1898).—Franz Boll, Sphaera (Leipsic, 1903) is important for the history of the Greek and barbarian constellations (see Rev. archéol., 1903, I, p. 437).—De la Ville de Mirmont has furnished notes on L'astrologie en Gaule au V^e siècle (Rev. des Etudes anciennes, 1902, pp. 115 ff.; 1903, pp. 255 ff.; 1906, p. 128). Also in book form, Bordeaux, 1904. The principal results of the latest researches have been outlined to perfection by Boll, Die Erforschung der antiken Astrologie (Neue Jahrb. für das klass. Altert., XI), 1908, pp. 104 ff.—For the bibliography of magic, cf. infra, notes, 58 ff.

1. Stephan. Byzant. (Cat. codd. astr., II, p. 235), I, 12: Ἐξοχωτάτη καὶ πάσης ἐπιστήμης δέσποινα. Theophil. Edess., ibid., V, 1, p. 184: Ὅτι πασῶν τιμιωτέρα τεχνῶν. Vettius Valens, VI, proem. (ibid., V, 2, p. 34, 7 = p. 241, 19, Kroll ed.): Τίς γὰρ οὐκ ἂν κρίναι ταύτην τὴν θεωρίαν πασῶν προύχειν καὶ μακαριωτάτην τυγχάνειν.

2. Cf. Louis Havet, Revue bleue, Nov., 1905, p. 644.

3. Cf. supra, p. 146, p. 123.

4. Kroll, Aus der Gesch. der Astrol. (Neue Jahrb. für das klass. Altertum, VII), 1901, pp. 598 ff. Cf. Boll, Cat. codd. astr., VII, p. 130.

5. The argumentation of Posidonius, placed at the beginning of the Tetrabiblos, inspired the defense of astrology, and it has been drawn upon considerably by authors of widely different spirit and tendencies, see Boll, Studien über Claudius Ptolemäus, 1894, pp. 133 ff.

6. Suetonius, Tib., 69.

7. Suetonius, Othon, 8; cf. Bouché-Leclercq, p. 556, n. 4.

8. On these edifices, cf. Maass, Tagesgötter, 1902. The form "Septizonia" is preferable to "Septizodia"; cf. Schürer, Siebentägige Woche (Extr. Zeitschr. neutestam. Wissensch., VI), 1904, pp. 31, 63.

9. Friedländer, Sittengesch., I, p. 364. It appears that astrology never obtained a hold on the lower classes of the rural population. It has a very insignificant place in the folklore and healing arts of the peasantry.

10. Manilius, IV, 16.—For instance CIL, VI, 13782, the epitaph of a Syrian freedman: "L. Caecilius L. l(ibertus) Syrus, natus mense Maio hora noctis VI, die Mercuri, vixit ann. VI dies XXXIII, mortuus est IIII Kal. Iulias hora X, elatus est h(ora) III frequentia maxima." Cf. Bucheler, Carm. epigr., 1536: "Voluit hoc astrum meum."

11. Chapter Περὶ δείπνου: Cat. codd. astr., IV, p. 94. The precept: "Ungues Mercurio, barbam Iove, Cypride crinem," ridiculed by Ausonius, (VII, 29, p. 108, Piper) is well known. There are many chapters Περὶ ὀνύχων, Περὶ ἱματίων, etc.

12. Cat. codd. astr., V, 1 (Rom.) p. 11, cod. 2, f. 34: Περὶ τοῦ εἰ ἔχει μέγαν ῥῖνα ὁ γεννηθείς. Πότερον πόρνη γένηται ἡ γεννηθεῖσα.

13. Varro, De re rustica, I, 37, 2; cf. Pliny, Hist. nat., XVI, 75, § 194. Olympiod, Comm. in Alcibiad Plat., p. 18 (ed. Creuzer, 1821): Τοὺς ἱερατικῶς ζῶντας ἔστιν ἰδεῖν μὴ ἀποκειρομένους αὐξούσης τῆς σελήνης. This applies to popular superstition rather than to astrology.

14. CIL, VI, 27140 = Bücheler, Carmina epigraph., 1163: "Decepit utrosque | Maxima mendacis fama mathematici."

15. Palchos in the Cat. codd. astr., I, pp. 106-107.

16. Manilius, IV, 386 ff., 866 ff. passim.

17. Vettius Valens, V, 12 (Cat. codd. astr., V, 2, p. 32 = p. 239, 8, Kroll ed.); cf. V, 9 (Cat., V, 2, p. 31, 20 = p. 222, 11 Kroll ed.).

18. Cf. Steph. Byz., Cat. codd. astr., II, p. 186. He calls both στοχασμὸς ἔντεχνος. The expression is taken up again by Manuel Comnenus (Cat., V, 1, p. 123, 4), and by the Arab Abou-Mashar [Apomasar] (Cat., V, 2, p. 153).

19. The sacerdotal origin of astrology was well known to the ancients; see Manilius, I, 40 ff.

20. Thus in the chapter on the fixed stars which passed down to Theophilus of Edessa and a Byzantine of the ninth century, from a pagan author who wrote at Rome in 379; cf. Cat. codd. astrol., V, 1, pp. 212, 218.—The same observation has been made in the manuscripts of the Cyranides, cf. F. de Mély and Ruelle, Lapidaires grecs, II, p. xi. n. 3.—See also Mon. myst. Mithra, I, pp. 31 ff.; Boll, Die Erforsch. der antiken Astrologie, pp. 110 ff.

21. In Vettius Valens, III, 12 (p. 150, 12 Kroll ed.) and IX, prooem. (p. 329, 20); cf. VI, prooem. (p. 241, 16); Riess, Petosiridis et Necheps. fragm., fr. 1.

22. Vettius Valens, IV, 11 (Cat. codd, astr., V, 2, p. 86 = p. 172, 31 ff., Kroll ed.), cf. V, 12, (Cat., ibid., p. 32 = p. 238, 18 ff.), VII prooem. (Cat., p. 41 = p. 263, l. 4, Kroll ed. and the note).

23. Firmicus Maternus, II, 30, VIII, prooem. and 5. Cf. Theophilus of Edessa, Cat., V, 1, p. 238, 25; Julian of Laod., Cat., IV, p. 104, 4.

24. CIL, V, 5893.—Chaeremon, an Egyptian priest, was also an astrologer.

25. Souter, Classical Review, 1897, p. 136; Ramsay, Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia, II, p. 566, 790.

26. On the Stoic theory of sympathy see Bouché-Leclercq, pp. 28 ff., passim. A brilliant account will be found in Proclus, In remp. Plat., II, 258 f., Kroll ed. Cf. also Clem. Alex., Strom., VI, 16, p. 143 (p. 504, 21, Stähelin ed.)—Philo attributed it to the Chaldeans (De migrat. Abrahami, 32, II, p. 303, 5, Wendland):

Χαλδαῖοι τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων ἐκπεπονηκέναι καὶ διαφερόντως δοκοῦσιν ἀστρονομίαν καὶ γενεθλιαλογικήν, τὰ ἐπίγεια τοῖς μετεώροις καὶ τὰ οὐράνια τοῖς ἐπὶ γῆς ἁρμοζόμενοι καὶ ὥσπερ διὰ μουσικῆς λόγων τὴν ἐμμελεστάτην συμφωνίαν τοῦ παντὸς ἐπιδεικνύμενοι τῇ τῶν μερῶν πρὸς ἄλληλα κοινωνίᾳ καὶ συμπαθείᾳ, τόποις μὲν διεζευγμένων, συγγενείᾳ δὲ οὐ διῳκισμένων.

27. Riess in Pauly-Wissowa, Realenc., s. v. "Aberglaube," I, col. 38 f.

28. (No note with this number in original book—Transcriber.).

29. Cat., V, 1, p. 210, where a number of other examples will be found.

30. See Boll, Sphaera (passim), and his note on the lists of animals assigned to the planets, in Roscher, Lexikon Myth., s. v. "Planeten," III, col. 2534; cf. Die Erforsch. der Astrologie, p. 110, n. 3.

31. Cat., V, 1, pp. 210 ff.

32. Cf. supra, ch. V. pp. 128 ff.

33. Cf. supra, ch. V, n. 87.

34. On worship of the sky, of the signs of the zodiac, and of the elements, cf. Mon. myst. Mithra, I, pp. 85 ff., 98 ff., 108 ff.

35. The magico-religious notion of sanctity, of mana, appeared in the idea and notation of time. This has been shown by Hubert in his profound analysis of La représentation du temps dans la religion et la magie (Progr. éc. des Hautes-Etudes), 1905 = Mélanges hist. des rel., Paris, 1909, p. 190.

36. On the worship of Time see Mon. myst. Mithra, I, pp. 20, 74 ff.; of the seasons: ibid., pp. 92 ff. There is no doubt that the veneration of time and its subdivisions (seasons, months, days, etc.) spread through the influence of astrology. Zeno had deified them; see Cicero, Nat. D., II, 63 (= von Arnim, fr. 165): "Astris hod idem (i. e. vim divinam) tribuit, tum annis, mensibus, annorumque mutationibus." In conformity with the materialism of the Stoics these subdivisions of time were conceived by him as bodies (von Arnim, loc. cit., II, fr. 665; cf. Zeller, Ph. Gr., IV, p. 316, p. 221). The later texts have been collected by Drexler in Roscher, Lexikon, s. v. "Mên," II, col. 2689. See also Ambrosiaster, Comm. in epist. Galat., IV, 10 (Migne, col. 381 B). Egypt had worshiped the hours, the months, and the propitious and adverse years as gods long before the Occident; see Wiedemann, loc. cit. (infra, n. 64) pp. 7 ff.

37. They adorn many astronomical manuscripts, particularly the Vaticanus gr. 1291, the archetype of which dates back to the third century of our era; cf. Boll, Sitzungsb. Akad. München, 1899, pp. 125 ff., 136 ff.

38. Piper, Mythologie der christl. Kunst, 1851, II, pp. 313 f. Cf. Mon. myst. Mithra, I, p. 220.

39. Bidez, Bérose et la grande année in the Mélanges Paul Fredericq, Brussels, 1904, pp. 9 ff.

40. Cf. supra, pp. 126, 158 f.

41. When Goethe had made the ascent of the Brocken, in 1784, during splendid weather, he expressed his admiration by writing the following verses from memory, (II, 115): "Quis caelum possit, nisi caeli munere, nosse | Et reperire deum, nisi qui pars ipse deorum est?"; cf. Brief an Frau von Stein, No. 518, (Schöll) 1885, quoted by Ellis in Noctes Manilianae, p. viii.

42. This idea in the verse of Manilius (n. 41, cf. IV, 910), and which may be found earlier in Somnium Scipionis (III, 4; see Macrobius, Comment. I, 14, § 16; "Animi societatem cum caelo et sideribus habere communem"; Pseudo-Apul., Asclepius, c. 6, c. 9. Firmicus Maternus, Astrol., I, 5, § 10). dates back to Posidonius who made the contemplation of the sky one of the sources of the belief in God (Capelle, Jahrb. für das klass. Altertum, VIII, 1905, p. 534, n. 4), and it is even older than that, for Hipparchus had already admitted a "cognationem cum homine siderum, animasque, nostras partem esse caeli" (Pliny, Hist. nat., II, 26, § 95).

43. Vettius Valens, IX, 8 (Cat. codd. astr., V, 2, p. 123 = p. 346, 20, Kroll ed.), VI, prooem. (Cat., ibid. p. 34, p. 35, 14 = p. 242, 16, 29, Kroll ed.); cf. the passages of Philo collected by Cohn, De opificio mundi, c. 23, p. 24, and Capelle, loc. cit.

44. Manilius, IV, 14.

45. Cf. my article on L'éternité des empereurs (Rev. hist. litt. relig., I), 1898, pp. 445 ff.

46. Reitzenstein, to whom belongs the credit of having shown the strength of this astrological fatalism (see infra, n. 57), believes that it developed in Egypt, but surely he is wrong. In this connection see the observations of Bousset, Götting. gel. Anzeigen, 1905, p. 704.

47. The most important work is unfortunately lost: it was the Περὶ εἱμαρμένης by Diodorus of Tarsus. Photius has left us a summary (cod. 223). We possess a treatise on the same subject by Gregory of Nyssa (P. G., XLV, p. 145). They were supported by the Platonist Hierocles (Photius, cod. 214, p. 172 b.).—Many attacks on astrology are found in St. Ephraim, Opera syriaca, II, pp. 437 ff.; St. Basil (Hexaem., VI, 5), St. Gregory of Nazianzen, St. Methodus (Symp., P. G., XVII, p. 1173); later in St. John Chrysostom, Procopus of Gaza, etc. A curious extract from Julian of Halicarnassus has been published by Usener, Rheinisches Mus., LV, 1900, p. 321.—We have spoken briefly of the Latin polemics in the Revue d'hist. et de litt. relig., VIII, 1903, pp. 423 f. A work entitled De Fato (Bardenhewer, Gesch. altchr. Lit., I, p. 315) has been attributed to Minucius Felix; Nicetas of Remesiana (about 400) wrote a book Adversus genethlialogiam (Gennadius, Vir. inl., c. 22), but the principal adversary of the mathematici was St. Augustine (Civ. Dei, c. 1 ff.; Epist., 246, ad Lampadium, etc.). See also Wendland, Die hellenistisch-römische Kultur, p. 172, n. 2.

48. The influence of the astrological ideas was felt by the Arabian paganism before Mohammed; see supra, ch. V, n. 57.

49. Dante, Purg., XXX, 109 ff.—In the Convivio, II, ch. XIV, Dante expressly professes the doctrine of the influence of the stars over human affairs.—The church succeeded in extirpating the learned astrology of the Latin world almost completely at the beginning of the Middle Ages. We do not know of one astrological treatise, or of one manuscript of the Carlovingian period, but the ancient faith in the power of the stars continued in secret and gained new strength when Europe came in contact with Arabian science.

50. Bouché-Leclercq devotes a chapter to them (pp. 609 ff.).

51. Seneca, Quaest. Nat., II, 35: "Expiationes et procurationes nihil aliud esse quam aegrae mentis solatia. Fata inrevocabiliter ius suum peragunt nec ulla commoventur prece." Cf. Schmidt, Veteres philosophi quomodo iudicaverint de precibus, Giessen, 1907, p. 34.—Vettius Valens, V, 9, (Catal. codd. astr., V, 2 p. 30, 11 = p. 220, 28, Kroll ed.), professes that Ἀδύνατόν τινα εὐχαῖς ἢ θυσίαις ἐπινικῆσαι τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς καταβολήν κ. τ. λ., but he seems to contradict himself, IX, 8 (p. 347, 1 ff.).

52. Suetonius, Tib., 69: "Circa deos ac religiones neglegentior, quippe addictus mathematicae, plenusque persuasionis cuncta fato agi." Cf. Manilius, IV.

53. Vettius Valens, IX, 11 (Cat. codd. astr., V, 2, p. 51, 8 ff. = p. 355, 15. Kroll ed.), cf. VI, prooem. (Cat., p. 33 = p. 240, Kroll).

54. "Si tribuunt fata genesis, cur deos oratis?" reads a verse of Commodianus (I, 16, 5). The antinomy between the belief in fatalism and this practice did not prevent the two from existing side by side, cf. Mon. myst. Mithra, I, pp. 120, 311; Revue d'hist. et de litt. relig., VIII, 1903, p. 431.—The peripatetic Alexander of Aphrodisias who fought fatalism in his Περὶ εἱμαρμένης, at the beginning of the third century, and who violently attacked the charlatanism and cupidity of the astrologers in another book (De anima mantissa, p. 180, 14, Bruns), formulated the contradiction in the popular beliefs of his time (ibid., p. 182, 18):

Ποτὲ μὲν ἄνθρωποι τὸ τῆς εἱμαρμένης ὑμνοῦσιν ὡς ἀναγκαῖον, ποτὲ δὲ οὐ πάντῃ τὴν συνέχειαν αὐτῆς πιστεύουσι σώζειν· καὶ γὰρ οἱ διὰ τῶν λόγων ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς ὡς οὔσης ἀναγκαίας διατεινόμενοι σφόδρα καὶ πάντα ἀνατιθέντες αὐτῇ, ἐν ταῖς κατὰ τὸν βίον πράξεσιν οὐκ ἐοίκασιν αὐτῇ πεπιστευκέναι· Τύχην γοῦν πολλάκις ἐπιβοῶνται, ἄλλην ὁμολογοῦντες εἶναι ταύτην αἰτίαν τῆς εἱμαρμένης· ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς θεοῖς οὐ διαλείπουσιν εὐχόμενοι, ὡς δυναμένον τινὸς ὑπ' αὐτὼν διὰ τὰς εὐχὰς γενέσθαι καὶ παρὰ τὴν εἱμαρμένην· ... καὶ μαντείαις οὐκ ὀκνοῦσι χρῆσθαι, ὡς ἐνὸν αὐτοῖς, εἰ προμάθοιεν, φυλάξασθαί τι τῶν εἱμαρμένων ... ἀπιθανώταται γοῦν εἴσιν αὐτῶν αἱ πρὸς τὴν τούτων συμφωνίαν εὑρησιλογίαι. Cf. also De Fato, c. 2 (p. 165, 26 ff. Bruns).

55. Manilius, II, 466: "Quin etiam propriis inter se legibus astra | Conveniunt, ut certa gerant commercia rerum, | Inque vicem praestant visus atque auribus haerent, | Aut odium, foedusque gerunt," etc.—Signs βλέποντα and ἀκούοντα: cf. Bouché-Leclercq, pp. 139 ff.—The planets rejoice (χαίρειν) in their mansions, etc.—Signs φωνήεντα, etc.: cf. Cat., I, pp. 164 ff.; Bouché-Leclercq, pp. 77 ff. The terminology of the driest didactic texts is saturated with mythology.

56. Saint Leo, In Nativ., VII, 3 (Migne, P. L., LIV, col. 218); Firmicus, I, 6, 7; Ambrosiaster, in the Revue d'hist. et litt. relig., VIII, 1903, p. 16.

57. Cf. Reitzenstein, Poimandres, pp. 77 ff., cf. p. 103, where a text of Zosimus attributes this theory to Zoroaster. Wendland, Die hellenistisch-röm. Kultur, 1907, p. 81. This is the meaning of the verse of the Orac. Chaldaïca: Οὐ γὰρ ὑφ' εἱμαρτὴν ἀγέλην πίπτουσι θεοῦργοι (p. 59 Kroll). According to Arnobius (II, 62, Cornelius Labeo) the magi claimed "deo esse se gnatos nec fati obnoxios legibus."

58. Bibliography. We have no complete book on Greek and Roman magic. Maury, La magie et l'astrologie dans l'antiquité et au moyen âge, 1864, is a mere sketch. The most complete account is Hubert's art. "Magia" in the Dict. des antiquités of Daremberg, Saglio, Pottier. It contains an index of the sources and the earlier bibliography. More recent studies are: Fahz, De poet. Roman. doctrina magica, Giessen, 1903; Audollent, Defixionum tabulae, Paris, 1904; Wünsch, Antikes Zaubergerät aus Pergamon, Berlin, 1905 (important objects found dating back to the third century, A. D.); Abt, Die Apologie des Apuleius und die Zauberei, Giessen, 1908.—The superstition that is not magic, but borders upon it, is the subject of a very important article by Riess, "Aberglaube," in the Realenc. of Pauly-Wissowa. An essay by Kroll, Antiker Aberglaube, Hamburg, 1897, deserves mention.—Cf. Ch. Michel in the Revue d'hist. et litt. rel., VII, 1902, p. 184. See also infra, nn. 64, 65, 72.

59. The question of the principles of magic has recently been the subject of discussions started by the theories of Frazer, The Golden Bough, 2d ed., 1900 (cf. Goblet d'Alviella, Revue de l'univ. de Bruxelles, Oct. 1903). See Andrew Lang, Magic and Religion, London, 1901; Hubert and Mauss, Esquisse d'une théorie générale de la magie (Année sociologique, VII), 1904, p. 56; cf. Mélanges hist. des relig., Paris, 1909, pp. xvii ff.; Jevons, Magic, in the Transactions of the Congress for the History of Religions, Oxford, 1908, I, p. 71. Loisy, "Magie science et religion," in A propos d'hist. des religions, 1911, p. 166.

60. S. Reinach, Mythes, cultes et relig., II, Intr., p. xv.

61. The infiltration of magic into the liturgy under the Roman empire is shown especially in connection with the ritual of consecration of the idols, by Hock, Griechische Weihegebräuche, Würzburg, 1905, p. 66.—Cf. also Kroll, Archiv für Religionsw., VIII, 1905, Beiheft, pp. 27 ff.

62. Friedländer, Sittengeschichte, I, pp. 509 f.

63. Arnobius, II, 62, cf. II, 13; Ps.-Iamblichus, De Myst., VIII, 4.

64. Magic in Egypt: Budge, Egyptian Magic, London, 1901; Wiedemann, Magie und Zauberei im alten Aegypten, Leipsic, 1905 [cf. Maspero, Rev. critique, 1905, II, p. 166]; Otto, Priester und Tempel, II, p. 224; Griffith, The Demotic Magical Papyrus of London and Leiden, 1904 (a remarkable collection dating back to the third century of our era), and the writings analyzed by Capart, Rev. hist. des relig., 1905 (Bulletin of 1904, p. 17), 1906 (Bull. of 1905, p. 92).

65. Fossey, La magie assyrienne, Paris, 1902. The earlier bibliography will be found p. 7. See also Hubert in Daremberg, Saglio, Pottier, Dict. des antiq., s. v. "Magia," p. 1505, n. 5. Campbell Thomson, Semitic Magic, Its Origin and Development, London, 1908.

Traces of magical conceptions have survived even in the prayers of the orthodox Mohammedans; see the curious observations of Goldziher, Studien, Theodor Nöldeke gewidmet, 1906, I, pp. 302 ff. The Assyrio-Chaldean magic may be compared profitably with Hindu magic (Victor Henry, La Magie dans l'Inde antique, Paris, 1904).

66. There are many indications that the Chaldean magic spread over the Roman empire, probably as a consequence of the conquests of Trajan and Verus (Apul., De Magia, c. 38; Lucian, Philopseudes, c. 11; Necyom., c. 6, etc. Cf. Hubert, loc. cit.) Those most influential in reviving these studies seem to have been two rather enigmatical personages, Julian the Chaldean, and his son Julian the Theurge, who lived under Marcus Aurelius. The latter was Considered the author of the Λόγια Χαλδαϊκά, which in a measure became the Bible of the last neo-Platonists.

67. Apul., De Magia, c. 27. The name φιλόσοφος, philosophus, was finally applied to all adepts in the occult sciences.

68. The term seems to have been first used by Julian, called the Theurge, and thence to have passed to Porphyry (Epist. Aneb., c. 46; Augustine, Civ. Dei, X, 9-10) and to the neo-Platonists.

69. Hubert, article cited, pp. 1494, n. 1; 1499 f.; 1504. Ever since magical papyri were discovered in Egypt, there has been a tendency to exaggerate the influence exercised by that country on the development of magic. It made magic prominent as we have said, but a study of these same papyri proves that elements of very different origin had combined with the native sorcery, which seems to have laid special stress upon the importance of the "barbarian names," because to the Egyptians the name had a reality quite independent of the object denoted by it, and possessed an effective force of its own (supra, pp. 93, 95). But that is, after all, only an incidental theory, and it is significant that in speaking of the origin of magic, Pliny (XXX, 7) names the Persians in the first place, and does not even mention the Egyptians.

70. Mon. myst. Mithra, I, pp. 230 ff.—Consequently Zoroaster, the undisputed master of the magi, is frequently considered a disciple of the Chaldeans or as himself coming from Babylon. The blending of Persian and Chaldean beliefs appears clearly in Lucian, Necyom., 6 ff.

71. The majority of the magical formulas attributed to Democritus are the work of forgers like Bolos of Mendes (cf. Diels, Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, I², pp. 440 f.), but the authorship of this literature could not have been attributed to him, had not these tendencies been so favorable.

72. On Jewish magic see: Blau, Das altjüdische Zauberwesen, 1898; cf. Hubert, loc. cit., p. 1505.

73. Pliny, H. N., XXX, 1, § 6; Juvenal, VI, 548 ff. In Pliny's opinion these magicians were especially acquainted with veneficas artes. The toxicology of Mithridates goes back to that source (Pliny, XXV, 2, 7). Cf. Horace, Epod., V, 21; Virgil, Buc. VIII, 95, etc.

74. Cf. supra, pp. 151 ff.

75. Minucius Felix, Octavius, 26; cf. supra, ch. VI, p. 152.

76. In a passage outlining the Persian demonology (see supra, n. 39), Porphyry tells us (De Abst., II, 41):

Τούτους (sc. τοὺς δαίμονας) μάλιστα καὶ τὸν προεστῶτα αὐτῶν (c. 42, ἡ προεστῶσα αὐτῶν δύναμις = Ahriman) ἐκτιμῶσιν οἱ τὰ κακὰ διὰ τῶν γοητειῶν πραττόμενοι κ. τ. λ. Cf. Lactantius, Divin. Inst., II, 14 (I, p. 164, 10, Brandt ed.); Clem. of Alexandria, Stromat., III, p. 46 C, and supra, n. 37. The idea that the demons subsisted on the offerings and particularly on the smoke of the sacrifices agrees entirely with the old Persian and Babylonian ideas. See Yasht V, XXI, 94: What "becomes of the libations which the wicked bring to you after sunset?" "The devas receive them," etc.—In the cuneiform tablet of the deluge (see 160 ff.), the gods "smell the good odor and gather above the officiating priest like flies." (Dhorme, Textes religieux assyro-babyloniens, 1907, p. 115; cf. Maspero, Hist. anc. des peuples de l'Orient, I, p. 681.).

77. Plut., De Iside, c. 46.

78. The druj Nasu of the Mazdeans; cf. Darmesteter, Zend-Avesta, II, p. xi and 146 ff.

79. Cf. Lucan, Phars., VI, 520 ff.

80. Mommsen, Strafrecht, pp. 639 ff. There is no doubt that the legislation of Augustus was directed against magic, cf. Dion, LII, 34, 3.—Manilius (II, 108) opposes to astrology the artes quorum haud permissa facultas. Cf. also Suet., Aug., 31.

81. Zachariah the Scholastic, Vie de Sévère d'Antioche, Kugener ed. (Patrol. orientalis, II), 1903, pp. 57 ff.

82. Magic at Rome in the fifth century: Wünsch, Sethianische Verfluchungstafeln aus Rom, Leipsic, 1898 (magical leads dated from 390 to 420); Revue hist. litt. relig., VIII, 1903, p. 435, and Burchardt, Die Zeit Constantin's, 2d ed., 1880, pp. 236 ff.

VIII. THE TRANSFORMATION OF PAGANISM.

Bibliography: The history of the destruction of paganism is a subject that has tempted many historians. Beugnot (1835), Lasaulx (1854), Schulze (Jena, 1887-1892) have tried it with varying success (see Wissowa, Religion der Römer, pp. 84 ff.). But hardly any one has been interested in the reconstruction of the theology of the last pagans, although material is not lacking. The meritorious studies of Gaston Boissier (La fin du Paganisme, Paris, 1891) treat especially the literary and moral aspects of that great transformation. Allard (Julien l'Apostat, I, 1900, p. 39 ff.) has furnished a summary of the religious evolution during the fourth century.

1. Socrates, Hist. Eccl., IV, 32.

2. It is a notable fact that astrology scarcely penetrated at all into the rural districts (supra, ch. VII, n. 9), where the ancient devotions maintained themselves; see the Vita S. Eligii, Migne, P. L., XL, col. 1172 f.—In the same way the cult of the menhirs in Gaul persisted in the Middle Ages; see d'Arbois de Jubainville, Comptes Rendus Acad. Inscr., 1906, pp. 146 ff.; S. Reinach, Mythes, cultes, III, 1908, pp. 365 ff.

3. Aug., Civ. Dei, IV, 21 et passim. Arnobius and Lactantius had previously developed this theme.

4. On the use made of mythology during the fourth century, cf. Burckhardt, Zeit Contantins, 2d ed., 1880, pp. 145-147; Boissier, La fin du paganisme, II, pp. 276 ff. and passim.

5. It is well known that the poems of Prudentius (348-410), especially the Peristephanon, contain numerous attacks on paganism and the pagans.

6. Cf. La polémique de l'Ambrosiaster contre les païens (Rev. hist. et litt. relig., VIII, 1903, pp. 418 ff.). On the personality of the author (probably the converted Jew Isaac), cf. Souter, A Study of Ambrosiaster, Cambridge, 1905 (Texts and Studies, VII) and his edition of the Quaestiones, (Vienna, 1908), intr. p. xxiv.

7. The identity of Firmicus Maternus, the author of De errore profanarum religionum, and that of the writer of the eight books Matheseos appears to have been definitely established.

8. Maximus was Bishop of Turin about 458-465 A. D. We possess as yet only a very defective edition of the treatises Contra Paganos and Contra Judaeos (Migne, Patr. lat., LVII, col. 781 ff.).

9. Particularly the Carmen adversus paganos written after Eugene's attempt at restoration in 394 A. D. (Riese, Anthol. lat., I, 20) and the Carmen ad senatorem ad idolorum servitutem conversum, attributed to St. Cyprian (Hartel. ed., III, p. 302), which is probably contemporaneous with the former.

10. On this point see the judicious reflections of Paul Allard, Julien l'Apostat, I, 1900, p. 35.

11. Hera was the goddess of the air after the time of the Stoics (Ἥρα = ἀήρ).

12. Cf. supra, pp. 51, 75, 99, 120, 148. Besides the Oriental gods the only ones to retain their authority were those of the Grecian mysteries, Bacchus and Hecate, and even these were transformed by their neighbors.

13. The wife of Praetextatus, after praising his career and talents in his epitaph, adds: "Sed ista parva: tu pius mystes sacris | teletis reperta mentis arcano premis, | divumque numen multiplex doctus colis" (CIL, 1779 = Dessau, Inscr. sel., 1259).

14. Pseudo-August. [Ambrosiaster], Quaest. Vet. et Nov. Test., (p. 139, 9-11, Souter ed.): "Paganos elementis esse subiectos nulli dubium est.... Paganos elementa colere omnibus cognitum est"; cf. 103 (p. 304, 4 Souter ed.): "Solent (pagani) ad elementa confugere dicentes haec se colere quibus gubernaculis regitur vita humana" (cf. Rev. hist. lit. rel., VIII, 1903, p. 426, n. 3).—Maximus of Turin (Migne, P. L., LVII, 783): "Dicunt pagani: nos solem, lunam et stellas et universa elementa colimus et veneramur." Cf. Mon myst. Mithra, I, p. 103, n. 4, p. 108.

15. Firmicus Maternus, Mathes., VII prooem: "(Deus) qui ad fabricationem omnium elementorum diversitate composita ex contrariis et repugnantibus cuncta perfecit."

16. Elementum is the translation of στοιχεῖον, which has had the same meaning in Greek at least ever since the first century (see Diels, Elementum, 1899, pp. 44 ff., and the Septuagint, Sap. Sal., 7, 18; 19, 17.) Pfister, "Die στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου in den Briefen des Paulus," Philologus, LXIX, 1910, p. 410.—In the fourth century this meaning was generally accepted: Macrobius, Somn. Scipionis, I, 12, § 16: "Caeli dico et siderum, aliorumque elementorum"; cf. I, 11, § 7 ff. Martianus Capella, II, 209; Ambrosiaster, loc. cit.; Maximus of Turin, loc. cit.; Lactantius, II, 13, 2: "Elementa mundi, caelum, solem, terram, mare."—Cf. Diels, op. cit., pp. 78 ff.

17. Cf. Rev. hist. litt. rel., VIII, 1903, pp. 429 ff.—Until the end of the fifth century higher education in the Orient remained in the hands of the pagans. The life of Severus of Antioch, by Zachariah the Scholastic, preserved in a Syrian translation [supra, ch. VII, n. 81], is particularly instructive in this regard. The Christians, who were opposed to paganism and astrology, consequently manifested an aversion to the profane sciences in general, and in that way they became responsible to a serious extent for the gradual extinction of the knowledge of the past (cf. Rev. hist. litt. rel., ibid., p. 431; Royer, L'enseignement d'Ausone à Alcuin, 1906, p. 130 ff.). But it must be said in their behalf that before them Greek philosophy had taught the vanity of every science that did not have the moral culture of the ego for its purpose, see Geffcken, Aus der Werdezeit des Christentums, p. 7, p. 111.

18. Mon. myst. Mithra, I, p. 294. Cf. supra, pp. 175 f.

19. Ambrosiaster, Comm. in Epist. Pauli, p. 58 B: "Dicentes per istos posse ire ad Deum sicut per comites pervenire ad regem" (cf. Rev. his. lit. rel., VIII, 1903, p. 427).—The same idea was set forth by Maximus of Turin (Adv. pag., col. 791) and by Lactantius (Inst. div., II, 16, § 5 ff., p. 168 Brandt); on the celestial court, see also Arnobius, II, 36; Tertullian, Apol., 24.—Zeus bore the name of king, but the Hellenic Olympus was in reality a turbulent republic. The conception of a supreme god, the sovereign of a hierarchical court, seems to have been of Persian origin, and to have been propagated by the magi and the mysteries of Mithra. The inscription of the Nemroud Dagh speaks of Διὸς Ὠρομάσδου θρόνους (supra, ch. VI, n. 26), and, in fact, a bas-relief shows Zeus-Oramasdes sitting on a throne, scepter in hand. The Mithra bas-reliefs likewise represent Jupiter Ormuzd on a throne, with the other gods standing around him (Mon. myst. Mithra, I, p. 129; II, p. 188, fig. 11); and Hostanes pictured the angels sitting around the throne of God (supra, ch. VI, n. 38; see Rev. iv). Moreover, the celestial god was frequently compared, not to a king in general, but to the Great King, and people spoke of his satraps; cf. Pseudo-Arist., Περὶ κόσμου, c. 6, p. 398 a, 10 ff. = Apul., De mundo, c. 26; Philo, De opif. mundi, c. 23, 27 (p. 24, 17; 32, 24, Cohn); Maximus of Turin, X, 9; and Capelle, Die Schrift von der Welt (Neue Jahrb. für das klass. Altert., VIII), 1905, p. 556, n. 6. Particularly important is a passage of Celsus (Origen, Contra Cels., VIII, 35) where the relation of this doctrine to the Persian demonology is shown. But the Mazdean conception must have combined, at an early date, with the old Semitic idea that Baal was the lord and master of his votaries (supra, p. 94 ff.). In his Neutestamentliche Zeitgeschichte, (2d. ed., 1906, p. 364 ff.), Holtzmann insists on the fact that the people derived their conception of the kingdom of God from the pattern of the Persian monarchy. See also supra, p. 111.

A comparison similar to this one, which is also found among the pagans of the fourth century, is the comparison of heaven with a city (Nectarius in St. Aug., Epist., 103 [Migne, P. L., XXXIII, col. 386]): "Civitatem quam magnus Deus et bene meritae de eo animae habitant," etc. Compare the City of God of St. Augustine and the celestial Jerusalem of the Jews (Bousset, Religion des Judentums, 1903, p. 272).—Cf. also Manilius, V, 735 ff.

20. August., Epist. 16 [48] (Migne, Pat. Lat., XXXIII, col. 82): "Equidem unum esse Deum summum sine initio, sine prole naturae, seu patrem magnum atque magnificum, quis tam demens, tam mente captus neget esse certissimum? Huius nos virtutes per mundanum opus diffusas multis vocabulis invocamus, quoniam nomen eius cuncti proprium videlicet ignoramus. Nam Deus omnibus religionibus commune nomen est. Ita fit ut, dum eius quasi quaedam membra carptim variis supplicationibus prosequimur, totum colere profecto videamur." And at the end: "Dii te servent, per quos et eorum atque cunctorum mortalium communem patrem, universi mortales, quos terra sustinet, mille modis concordi discordia, veneramur et colimus." Cf. Lactantius Placidus, Comm. in Stat. Theb., IV, 516.—Another pagan (Epist., 234 [21], Migne, P. L., XXXIII, col. 1031) speaks "deorum comitatu vallatus, Dei utique potestatibus emeritus, id est eius unius et universi et incomprehensibilis et ineffabilis infatigabilisque Creatoris impletus virtutibus, quos (read quas) ut verum est angelos dicitis vel quid alterum post Deum vel cum Deo aut a Deo aut in Deum."

21. The two ideas are contrasted in the Paneg. ad Constantin. Aug., 313 A. D., c. 26 (p. 212, Bährens ed.): "Summe rerum sator, cuius tot nomina sunt quot gentium linguas esse voluisti (quem enim te ipse dici velis, scire non possumus), sive tute quaedam vis mensque divina es, quae toto infusa mundo omnibus miscearis elementis et sine ullo extrinsecus accedente vigoris impulsu per te ipsa movearis, sive alique supra omne caelum potestas es quae hoc opus tuum ex altiore naturae arce despicias."—Compare with what we have said of Jupiter exsuperantissimus (p. 128).

22. Macrobius, Sat., I, 17 ff.; cf. Firm. Mat., Err. prof. rel., c. 8; Mon. myst. Mithra, I, 338 ff. Some have supposed that the source of Macrobius's exposition was Iamblichus.

23. Julian had intended to make all the temples centers of moral instruction (Allard, Julien l'Apostat, II, 186 ff.), and this great idea of his reign was partially realized after his death. His homilies were little appreciated by the bantering and frivolous Greeks of Antioch or Alexandria, but they appealed much more to Roman gravity. At Rome the rigorous mysteries of Mithra had paved the way for reform. St. Augustine, Epist., 91 [202] (Migne, P. L., XXXIII, col. 315), c. 408 A. D., relates that moral interpretations of the old myths were told among the pagans during his time: "Illa omnia quae antiquitus de vita deorum moribusque conscripta sunt, longe aliter sunt intelligenda atque interpretanda sapientibus. Ita vero in templis populis congregatis recitari huiuscemodi salubres interpretationes heri et nudiustertius audivimus." See also Civ. Dei, II, 6: "Nec nobis nescio quos susurros paucissimorum auribus anhelatos et arcana velut religione traditos iactent (pagani), quibus vitae probitas sanctitasque discatur." Compare the epitaph of Praetextatus (CIL, VI, 1779 = Dessau, Inscr. sel., 1259): "Paulina veri et castitatis conscia | dicata templis," etc.—Firmicus Maternus (Mathes, II, 30) demands of the astrologer the practice of all virtues, "antistes enim deorum separatus et alienus esse debet a pravis illecebris voluptatum.... Itaque purus, castus esto, etc."

24. This is clearly asserted by the verses of the epitaph cited (v. 22 ff): "Tu me, marite, disciplinarum bono | puram ac pudicam SORTE MORTIS EXIMENS, | in templa ducis ac famulam divis dicas: | Te teste cunctis imbuor mysteriis." Cf. Aug., Epist., 234 (Migne, P. L., XXXIII, col. 1031, letter of a pagan to the bishop,): "Via est in Deum melior, qua vir bonus, piis, puris iustis, castis, veris dictisque factisque probatus et deorum comitatu vallatus ... ire festinat; via est, inquam, qua purgati antiquorum sacrorum piis praeceptis expiationibusque purissimis et abstemiis observationibus decocti anima et corpore constantes deproperant."—St. Augustine (Civ. Dei, VI, 1 and VI, 12) opposes the pagans who assert "deos non propter praesentem vitam coli sed propter aeternam."

25. The variations of this doctrine are set forth in detail by Macrobius, In Somn. Scip., I, 11, § 5 ff. According to some, the soul lived above the sphere of the moon, where the immutable realm of eternity began; according to others, in the spheres of the fixed stars where they placed the Elysian Fields (supra, ch. V, n. 65; see Martian, Capella, II, 209). The Milky Way in particular was assigned to them as their residence (Macr., ib., c. 12; cf. Favon. Eulog., Disput. de somn. Scipionis, p. 1, 20 [Holder ed.]: "Bene meritis ... lactei circuli lucida ac candens habitatio deberetur"; St. Jerome, Ep., 23, § 3 [Migne, P. L., XXII, col. 426), in conformity with an old Pythagorean doctrine (Gundel, De stellarum appellatione et relig. Romana, 1907, p. 153 [245]), as well as an Egyptian doctrine (Maspero, Hist. des peuples de l'Orient, I, p. 181).—According to others, finally, the soul was freed from all connection with the body and lived in the highest region of heaven, descending first through the gates of Cancer and Capricorn, at the intersection of the zodiac and the Milky Way, then through the spheres of the planets. This theory, which was that of the mysteries (supra, pp. 126, 152) obtained the approbation of Macrobius ("quorum sectae amicior est ratio") who explains it in detail (I, 12, § 13 ff.). Arnobius, who got his inspiration from Cornelius Labeo (supra, ch. V, n. 64), opposed it, as a widespread error (II, 16): "Dum ad corpora labimur et properamus humana ex mundanis circulis, sequuntur causae quibus mali simus et pessimi." Cf. also, II, 33: "Vos, cum primum soluti membrorum abieretis e nodis, alas vobis adfuturas putatis quibus ad caelum pergere atque ad sidera volare possitis," etc.). It had become so popular that the comedy by Querolus, written in Gaul during the first years of the fifth century, alluded to it in a mocking way, in connection with the planets (V, 38): "Mortales vero addere animas sive inferis nullus labor sive superis." It was still taught, at least in part, by the Priscillianists (Aug., De haeres., 70; Priscillianus, éd. Schepss., p. 153, 15; cf. Herzog-Hauck, Realencycl., 3d ed., s. v. "Priscillian," p. 63.—We have mentioned (supra, ch. VI, n. 54) the origin of the belief and of its diffusion under the empire.

26. Cf. supra, p. 152, and pp. 189 ff.; Mon. myst. Mithra, I, p. 296.

27. This idea was spread by the Stoics (ἐκπύρωσις) and by astrology (supra, p. 177); also by the Oriental religions, see Lactantius, Inst., VII, 18, and Mon. myst. Mithra, I, p. 310.

28. Gruppe (Griech. Mythol., pp. 1488 ff.) has tried to indicate the different elements that entered into this doctrine.

29. Cf. supra, pp. 134 f., p. 160 and passim. The similarity of the pagan theology to Christianity was strongly brought out by Arnobius, II, 13-14.—Likewise in regard to the Orient, de Wilamowitz has recently pointed out the close affinity uniting the theology of Synesius with that of Proclus (Sitzungsb. Akad. Berlin, XIV, 1907, pp. 280 ff.) he has also indicated how philosophy then led to Christianity.

30. M. Pichon (Les derniers écrivains profanes, Paris, 1906) has recently shown how the eloquence of the panegyrists unconsciously changed from paganism to monotheism. See also Maurice, Comptes Rendus Acad. Inscriptions, 1909, p. 165.—The vague deism of Constantine strove to reconcile the opposition of heliolatry and Christianity (Burckhardt, Die Zeit Constantins, pp. 353 ff.) and the emperor's letters addressed to Arius and the community of Nicomedia (Migne, P. G., LXXXV, col. 1343 ff.) are, as shown by Loeschke (Das Syntagma des Gelasius [Rhein. Mus., LXI], 1906, p. 44), "ein merkwürdiges Produkt theologischen Dilettantismus, aufgebaut auf im wesentlichen pantheistischer Grundlage mit Hilfe weniger christlicher Termini und fast noch weniger christlicher Gedanken." I shall cite a passage in which the influence of the astrological religion is particularly noticeable (col. 1552 D): Ἰδοῦ γὰρ ὁ κόσμος μορφὴ εἴτουν σχῆμα τυγχάνει ὥν· καὶ οἱ ἀστέρες γε χαρακτῆρας προβέβληνται· καὶ ὅλως τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ σφαιροειδοῦς τούτου κύκλου, εἶδος τῶν ὄντων τυγχάνει ὅν, καὶ ὥσπερ μόρφωμα· καὶ ὅμως ὁ Θεὸς πανταχοῦ πάρεστι.

INDEX.